Facebook gives users local ballot guides in voting initiative

Voting day in the US, November 8, will soon be here, and Facebook wants to be really sure you’re going to go out there and exercise your civic duty.

The company is introducing a new feature today to preview your voting ballot– from presidential candidates to local ones – as well as where those candidates stand on issues you care about.

Facebook will essentially present you with a preview of your November 8 choices – it makes a prediction for states that don’t provide early sample ballots – so you can use the app as a prep tool and reference guide come election day. You can even email yourself your choices for later reference.

Candidates are presented randomly when you open the tool, and when you tap on them you can view their positions on specific issues, endorsements, recent posts and their website. For information about local elections (smaller than state-level), you’ll have to provide your address (this is optional).

Finally, you can keep your opinions on specific candidates and issues private so you don’t start family feuds.

It’s a clever and welcome move by the company. Many people don’t know what’s on their ballot – aside from the big two candidates – until voting day. What better way to make sure people are informed than leveraging the country’s (and world’s) biggest social network?

Jaymin Shah is a tech entrepreneur. He is the Founder & CEO of TechOptimals. He has made a name for himself in the tech media world as a writer relentlessly covering Technology, in addition to a broad range of startups. Contact Jaymin at jaymin@techoptimals.com